Domo Does Turkey

Domo here! Domo hasn't blogged in a while! Domo's last post was way back in July when he went to Paris! (Read more here at  5 Days of Family Fun in France!) Wow, Domo has been lazy. Domo has traveled since then but has been taking time off from writing. Domo apologizes. He knows that you are probably tired about Monika's dribble about running. You are in luck! Domo does not talk about running! Oh wait, he will for this post. Sorry.

The Drive Up

Last year Domo drove home from San Diego to San Francisco and left around noon. Domo hit traffic in San Diego, Orange County, LA, THROUGH the Grapevine, and wasn't able to drive above 25mph until he got near Bakersfield. It was horrible. Domo was not happy. In total it took Domo 12 1/2 hours to get home last year. H-E double hockey sticks! (For more about last year's trip, read "Home for the Holidays".)

Mika Enjoying the Drive North

This year Domo was smart, he left earlier! The original plan was to leave at 5am, but Domo couldn't resist getting a run in that morning; so he got up, had breakfast, ran, and then left. Domo and dogs left around 9am and anticipated making the 500 miles in 8 hours, getting into San Francisco around 5pm. Domo had smoooooth sailing through San Diego, Orange County, into LA ... and then traffic hit. Domo had nightmares from last year and decided to give up on the 5 and to head over to the 101 to take the coast route up. Domo was exited by the thought that he'd be in Santa Barbara in a couple hours! You know, Santa Barbara .. UCSB ... Go Gauchos! Domo's alma matter!

Domo's House in IV

Domo got into Santa Barbara around 1pm - perfect time for lunch! Domo had his heart on stopping at Silver Greens, his favorite place to eat in Isla Vista. This place was a close runner-up to Freebirds, and was a hands-down favorite among his household. He and his roommates ate masses of Silvergreens over the years. Mmmm.... Silver Greens. :o) Domo ordered his usual favorite at Silver Greens, the half and half combo with the half Chicken Ranch Sandwich and the half Mandarin Chicken Salad. Something that has changed since Domo was in college is that this meal now comes with a chocolate chip cookie. Don't want the cookie? Well you can substitute it for a fruit salad (in a sauce sized container) for 50 cents more. Um seriously? Domo has to pay you 50 cents more to eat healthy? Ugh, Domo so annoyed.

Domo Loves Silvergreens

Domo got his lunch to go and ate it on the drive up. Oh yeah - Domo ate a salad while driving. Mad skills! Domo didn't hit traffic on the rest of the drive and sailed from Santa Barbara up to San Francisco, arriving around 6pm. Just in time to eat dinner! Domo and his dad... errr Monika's dad walked down the street to a local Vietnamese restaurant called Hanoi Bistro and had a whole crab (omg so yummy!! and only $16.95!!), a chicken salad, and spring rolls for dinner. Mmm ... Domo was happy.

The Turkey Trot

The next morning Domo got up early to get ready for a turkey trot race. Domo's friend Christina had talked him into running the Nitro Turkey Trot in Pinole. Where is Pinole? Domo had no idea and actually had to Google Maps it before the weekend. Domo, Cristina, and her friend Sheila all headed over to Pinole Thursday morning to run the 10K race. Domo and Christina got into the Thanksgiving spirit by donning costumes. Christina was the turkey and Domo was the Indian. Last year Christina and Domo ran a turkey trot in Golden Gate Park in SF and about 25% of the runners were in costume. Domo was really taken aback to see that aside from himself and Christina, there were only three other people in costume out of 200 people. Scrooges!

Monika Slays a Turkey

 Monika Befriends Another Turkey

Domo had a decent race (first 10K in YEARS!) and finished in 53:26. Not his best time, but not terrible. Domo placed 5th in his division out of 35, and was bummed to see that 4th place was only 9 seconds ahead of him, and 3rd place was 1:20 ahead of him. :o( Domo has a 10K PR of 49:02 and wishes he had come in around 3rd place. Oh well .. there's always a next race.

Domo's Turkey Trot Medal 

Turkey Lunch

After the race Domo came home and showered and got ready for lunch. For lunch Domo and his .. er Monika's dad would be continuing their tradition from last year by going to Max's Opera Cafe for lunch before heading out to a movie. For lunch Domo ordered the Thanksgiving ham, and dad ordered the salmon. YUMMY! The post-lunch movie was Burlesque. Domo loved it! Domo loves musicals and this movie didn't disappoint. Go see it!

Domo's Lunch at Max's 

Turkey Dinner

Domo came home around 4pm after the movie and was already looking forward to dinner. Unfortunately when he made reservations at McCormick & Kuleto's they only had an 8pm reservation available. Domo was hungry. Luckily there were a few good snacks in his turkey trot goodie bag that he could munch on in the mean time. While waiting for dinner Domo started reading a book he got about a month ago about the Ironman Championship. The book is titled "25 Year of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship". The book is a coffee table type book with photos and stories about each year of the race. Domo would like to do a half-Ironman next year and really enjoyed the book. Its amazing and inspiring to see what happens out on the course. The dreams, the struggles, the failures and the accomplishments are so moving. *sniff* Domo wiped away a couple tears while reading this book.

But let's stop talking about Domo being a softie.. let's talk about turkey! It was finally time for dinner and Domo and Dad headed down to Ghiradelli Square for dinner. The reservation was at 8pm...but we weren't seated until 8:20pm ... orders taken at 8:40pm .. no food seen until 9:20pm. Domo was miserable. Domo was tired and hungry. Domo hated everyone around him. Especially the 10 year old boy at the table behind him playing jingle bells with his spoon on his parents' water glasses. Seriously!?! Domo wanted to throw a spoon at that boy. Domo isn't usually so violent... Domo was hungry.

Monika & Dad

Finally! Our food arrived! Domo ordered the Thanksgiving turkey dinner and Dad ordered the Mahi Mahi. Domo is embarrassed to say that he also ordered dessert ... espresso creme brulee!! Domo isn't really a dessert person but really does favor creme brulee, and loves coffee. The dessert was great (as was the rest of the food) and Domo and Dad left happy.

Black Friday

The next morning was Black Friday! Domo had never participated in Black Friday until a few years ago when he was visiting his BFF Garley in New York. Garley and her husband left to shop at 5am (leaving Domo home alone with her dogs) and out of curiosity Domo ventured out to hit a few stores. Domo ended up getting a great deal on a camera and was also able to get a few gifts for others.

This year Domo wanted to go to the mall to shop for a few gifts he had in mind for people. Domo won't disclose where he went or what he bought, but he thinks he did pretty good! By the time Domo came home at 9am after 3 hours of shopping, he was exhausted and ended up napping for three hours! After Domo's nap he met up with Christina to see the movie Love and Other Drugs. OMG.. so funny! And sweet. Domo might have cried during the movie. Domo wants all of his friends in pharma/device sales to go watch the movie. It is hilarious!

Ikea & Jeopardy

The next day Domo and dad got up early to head to IKEA so Dad could buy a Poang chair to replace a big, old leathe chair he's had forever. Luckily for Dad, Monika's friend Danny was coming over and would be able to help her carry the chair downstairs to the garage to make room for the new chair.

After hauling the chair downstairs Domo and Danny picked up sandwiches at the Sub Center went back to his house to play some Jeopardy! Domo feels that he is quite good at Jeopardy! Well, only at some categories. The last time Domo was in SF they played three games and Domo was winning! This time (even cumulatively) Domo was losing. Shoot. Doom hates losing. Domo wanted to play a third game to get his score up but needed to head back to SD. Domo went home to load up his car, get the dogs, and then hit the road. On the way back it was a bit easier, and only took 9 hours. "Only 9 hours". Ha!

Awesome SF View from Danny's House

Domo is happy that he got to go home again for Thanksgiving, had great time with Dad and his friends, and loves that this weekend starts off the holidays for 2010. Happy holidays to everyone!

2011 Race Schedule - Check!

This weekend I put together my racing calendar for 2011. My goals for this upcoming year are:

• Run several half marathons
• Run 1 or 2 full marathons
• Do several sprint triathlons
• Do 1 or 2 Olympic triathlons
• Mayyyybeeee shoot for a 70.3 race by the fall

As I laid out my race calendar and looked up half marathons, full marathons, and triathlons, I was startled by how much race fees have increased over the years. When I started running distance races back in 2005 a half marathon was usually $65-85, and a full marathon was $85-100. Now the races were going for $85-$120 for a half, and $90-$140 for a full. Are you kidding me?!

Miss Cheapskate

My theory is that with the increase in popularity of distance racing, race organizers have increased fees because those people who are running their first race are willing to pay a higher fee for a big event. For people like me who want to run a lot of events in one year, this sucks. This is only my theory, but I can't imagine that all of the other factors that go into race organization have led to a 50% increase in race prices over the past few  years. I don't mean to be cheap, but I can run anything but a marathon on my own during a training run. I'm okay paying for the experience, but don't make me pay so much that I have to pick and choose which races I can do over an entire year. Sheesh!

I've committed to running the full San Francisco Marathon in July, but also wanted to run a full in spring as a tune-up. Preferably a flat course of course since I doubt SF will be a PR for me. I also want to run several halfs since that is my new favorite distance, and of course now that I'm a "triathlete" I want to work some tris in. I am new to the sport of triathlon and not great at running or swimming, so I was looking for female only events that were less competitive. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything I wanted to put in my calendar for sure for next year, so as it stands I plan on doing the Tri Club's free races as they are announced, and maybe in the Fall I'll sign up for some tris organized by other groups.

My Calendar

I have two races coming up between now and the end of the year. I'm running the Nitro Turkey Trot in Pinole on Thanksgiving, and then the Gladiator Rock N Run (a 5K obstacle course/mud race) in Irvine on December 4th.

For next year I've decided to do the Triple Crown half marathon series which consists of the Carlsbad Half Marathon, La Jolla Half Marathon, and the America's Finest City Marathon. I've only registered for the first of the three so far (I can't commit so far out because of my work travel schedule) but if I'm in town those weekends I'll do the race.

Ready for the 2011 line-up so far?

• 1/9/11 - Resolution Run (15K)
• 1/23/11 - Carlsbad Half Marathon
• 2/13/11 - San Dieguito Half Marathon
• 4/17/11 - La Jolla Half Marathon
• 7/31/11 - San Francisco Marathon
• 8/21/11 - America's Finest City Half Marathon

I will most likely run a full either in the spring (LA Marathon?) or the fall (hmmm... any suggestions?), and will also do several tris. I originally thought about training for Barb's Race which is the only women's only 70.3 distance triathlon, but unfortunately its the same weekend of the SF Marathon. Maybe I'll do it next year! In the 70.3 series the only other one I'd consider for next year is the Austin race which is 11/23/11. We'll see how my early spring races go and maybe that will be my ultimate tri goal!

It was fun putting together this calendar and I'm excited for all of these races coming up. If you're in town for any of these races and want to run with me, let me know!

 

 

There's No Place Like Home

Last weekend I went home to San Francisco. Sigh! I miss San Francisco! :o( The occasion for the visit was to throw my BFF Garley's baby shower celebrating the upcoming arrival of her second son.  I flew home for a change since I lucked out on flights and found a flight deal for $90 round trip on United! Only negative was that I'd have to travel Saturday/Monday instead of Friday/Sunday. Oh well, no biggie.

Congratulations Nick & Garley!

Garley's Shower

To prepare for Garley's shower I put together a team that consisted of me, her sister, and her sister-in-law. I took on favors, games, and a memory book, her sister took on decorations, and her sister-in-law covered dessert. The event was set for 11:30am on Saturday morning, just three hours after I'd be getting off the plane from San Diego! (Yes, that did mean I was up at 4am to get to the airport at 5am for the 5am flights. *yawn*)

My Crafts in Action - Shower Favors!

We got to the restaurant, set up the decorations and cupcake table, put out the favors, and then the party started! It was a nice little event for Garley and a great way for her to get to see all of her friends and family before she dove into the role of a two-child parent. As a non-mother, I have to admit I haven't enjoyed many of the baby showers I've gone to. Watching someone open 100 gifts that all look the same (ohh!  a towel! Oh! A pink onesie! Oh! Another towel! yeah ...) and playing gross games like "guess what type of chocolate is melted into this diaper" or "taste the baby food to guess the flavor" really aren't my favorite things to do on a weekend. I don't mean to be a baby scrooge, but seriously - melted chocolate in a diaper is just plain gross. Don't even get me started on Lentil baby food! Ick!

Best Friends for 24 Years :o)

For Garley's shower I found two fun games online. One was "How well do you know the mom & dad?" trivia, and the other was "Match the celebrity couple to the baby name". Both games turned out to be pretty challenging, but we found two winners who each got an iTunes giftcard.

The Happy Couple

Russian Hill

Later that night I had a "date" with Jenny. We were going to go get dinner in her new neighborhood (Russian Hill) and then meet up with her boyfriend and his friend for a drink. We had dinner at Rex's Cafe which was good, nothing to write home about, and then went across the street to Tonic for a drink. After getting up at 4am that day to make my early flight, I was in no condition to close the bar down. Let's be honest, halfway through my first drink and I was tired and wanted to go to bed!

Drinks at Tonic

Hoppers Hands Run

I needed to get up early anyways because the next day I had a running date with Jojo from the San Francisco Marathon! We were going to meet down at the Marina and run out to Hoppers Hands and back. Jojo brought along her ADORABLE  Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy who was just a doll. He waited patiently in the car while we ran out to the Golden Gate Bridge and back, on a surprisingly beautiful sunny Fall San Francisco day.
  

Cooper - San Francisco Marathon Dog

During our run we bumped into the race course for the Mermaid Run. So cute! This race series has races in San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Cruz, and Mountain View, and one of their races was held in San Diego and was co-promoted with Girls on the Run. One of the girls I currently coach actually did the last Mini Mermaid Run.
 

Lunch at Luna Park

After the run I had to quickly get ready and head down to the Mission to meet up with some college friends for lunch. Gaucho Girls unite! I was leery of the location and worried about parking, but found parking on the street about a block away from the restaurant! wow! I quickly parked my hamster car (the rental Kia Soul) and walked over to the restaurant.

Lunch at Luna Park

After brunch Christina and I had originally talked about going to see a movie, but ended up hanging out on the patio of a Mediterranean restaurant called Ziryab down the street from her. We hung out here for a while enjoying the fruity hookah smells of our table neighbors before I was off for dinner with my dad. Yes, all I do is eat apparently!

An Afternoon of Wine & Hummus

My dad and I met a friend of his at a Chinese restaurant and dined on several courses of mysterious dishes. The whole menu was on the wall in Chinese, so I said I liked shrimp and chicken and waited to see what was in store! We had several incredible dishes and plenty to take home. I'm pretty sure I got tricked into eating jellyfish at one point (what else is clear and thin and rubbery? errr..) which didn't really taste like much, and all I could think was that the jellyfish on the table was not unlike what could be found swimming in La Jolla Cove. ack.

After dinner I headed over to my friend Danny's house to watch some Jeopardy. We watched two episodes while keeping score, and not to brag or anything... but guess who won? Oh yeah! This girl! I couldn't stay out to late and had to leave and get to bed  with yet another 4am wake-up for a 6am flight on the horizon. *yawn*. I got into San Diego about 7:30am the next day and headed straight into work. Amazingly I wasn't that tired! The trip was short but sweet, and I'm excited to head back home this week for Thanksgiving. For some reason I'm not sure I can ever see myself returning to San Francisco even though I love the city dearly. Because of this I cherish my weekends at home, and I'm so grateful to have a network of friends and family who always make me remember that there's no place like home.

SFM Ambassador - Heck Yeah!

In case you didn't know what SFM stood for, you will from now! Expect to see it in many future blog posts. SFM stands for the San Francisco Marathon! I was recently chosen as a SFM running ambassador and I couldn't be happier! Wow, what an honor! (Full running ambassador profiles here.)

You're probably wondering, wow, running ambassador - what is that? Well, I'm probably going to be traveling to third world countries and holding orphan babies like Angelina Jolie! Errr no.. okay, so I won't be like a Goodwill Ambassador, but as a running ambassador I will be on a team of people who love running who will be helping to spread the word about the San Francisco Marathon and the incredible race that it is.
 

My first distance race in San Francisco was the Nike Women's Marathon back in October of 2005. This was my second full marathon and I (stupidly) thought that I could beat my first marathon time at the Rock N Roll Marathon in San Diego. You probably think that I trained on hills to prepare. Nope! Did I pay for that? Oh yeah! I suffered throughout the entire course and even after three months of speed training during group track runs, I only finished TWELVE SECONDS faster than my first race. Ugh. I trained to get faster on flat ground - which did help overall in my race, but not enough. I was miserable the whole time and swore never to run in San Francisco again!

But then, the next year, I decided to sign up for the San Francisco Marathon. It had been a year, I felt like I was in better shape, I had more marathons under my belt .. I could do this! Well, yet again, I suffered on the hills and struggled through the race. Had I trained on hills up until the race? No. Okay, as a smart person I was not being a smart runner. I never liked running on hills and didn't train on them, and because of this my performance suffered. After my 2nd mediocre race in SF I swore to never race there again. Period!

And then ..  I ran the Surf City half marathon and had a great race! (More on my race recap.) Soon after my friend Christina told me about the California Dreamin series and said that if I ran Surf City, San Francisco, and then Long Beach (a course I had done previously in a full), that I could get a special medal and jacket for completing the series. This totally caught my interest! I thought about it for a while, and decided to go for it. I ran the SFM half (No thanks on the full), and then the Long Beach Half .. and I did it! California Dreamin time! Kudos to the marketer who came up with that bundling deal!! (Race recap on the SF Half here.)

Not too long after running the SFM Half I saw a tweet on twitter about the running ambassadors. I immediately replied to show my interest. I L-O-V-E running. Running has done more for me than anything else in my life! (okay, besides my parents). Running is amazing and can change your life in so many ways. Its changed mine, and I want to take every chance I have to help make it change someone elses. Anyways, a few weeks after expressing my initial interest via a tweet, I got an email back with an application to become an ambassador. The application asked for a variety of things such as:

• What motivates you to run? What got you started running?
• Do you prefer to run alone or with others?
• Are you involved in the running community in your hometown?
• What are your running/fitness goals in the next year?
• What are your personal/professional goals in the next year?

My favorite question on the application was:

In 2010, we described the San Francisco Marathon as "worth the hurt".
What is running, marathoning, or the San Francisco Marathon
specifically "worth" to you?

My answer?

"Feeling your life change as you cross the finish line is
worth everything you sacrificed to get there."

I filled out my application and sent it in, crossed my fingers, tried not to be so embarrassed for my shameless self-promoting entry .. and then I waited. Part of me didn't feel that I deserved to win. I've had two other opportunities in the past to share my 'story'. The first was when I submitted my story to the Rock n Roll marathon in Phoenix, resulting in my Arizona Central Living front page cove rin 2005 in the feature article "What makes them run?" (Check out the article here.)  

My second bout with fame came in 2009 when I applied to the Rock N Roll Marathon Foot Locker Challenge team for the "race within the race" and was accepted to that! That was an incredible experience! When I applied to be a SFM running ambassador, I kind of thought well, I don't really deserve this. I've had my moments of fame already, shouldn't they pick someone else?

A few weeks had passed and I hadn't heard anything, so I thought hmm.. oh well. :o( I guess I didn't get it. And then .. I got an email saying I had made the team! OMG so exciting!! The SFM emailed and tweeted to those of us who had made it! This ensued with massive retweets of everyone on the team with congratulations! I swear, if you did a productivity study of our group, it dropped like a hot potato on that day. We were all so excited!

It has been so interesting to see the other ambassadors in the group and to read their blogs. On several occasions I have started on one blog, clicked on another, and then another after that.. until several hours had passed and I had done nothing but read running blogs for hours! The Internet is an amazing thing, you can connect to strangers in so many ways! Through being an ambassador I have been exposed to so many other interesting running blogs, and because of this I have updated a section of my own blog to include other blogs I follow.

So in case you couldn't decipher this from my blog up until this point, I will be running the SFM race in July .. and .. deep breath.. I will be running the full marathon! I swore off fulls after my last heartbreaking race this past June (more on that disappointment here) , but I think another full is in my cards, and I think this special race should be my next one. As a true SF native (born and raised in the city thank you -  Sunset District baby!) I love San Francisco with all of my heart. Its my favorite city in the world, the place I grew up, home to my family, hone of the majority of my friends, a great place to live at any age, and a place I will always call home.

Best part of the SFM? You get to run across the Golden Gate Bridge! Let me tell you - its amazing!!

San Francisco hills .. you've beat me twice, but this time I'll come and get you! Can't wait to run the course in July. want to come and join me? Registration opens in a few weeks on December 1st!

Triathlon #2 – The Sprint

Close upon the heels of my first triathlon on October 30th, I completed my second triathlon this past Saturday with the San Diego Tri Club. My first race was a mini sprint (250m swim, 5 mile bike, and 2 mile run) and this past weekend’s race was a regular sprint (800m swim, 12 ½ mile bike, and 4 mile run).

 

The Tri Club holds about 20 races each year which are free to its members, and the last race of the season was this past weekend. I wasn’t quite ready to increase my open water swim distance from 250m to 800m, but I figured what the heck, might as well do the race since its my last chance to complete a triathlon before the season picks up again in the spring.

 

Preparing for the Race

I felt like I barely made it through the 250m swim in my first race, so I had decided that I’d do one longer swim workout during the week to improve my swimming confidence. Well, I didn’t get up quite early enough any morning last week to accommodate the drive time to/from the gym to swim, and ended up just running a few times before work. Oh well.

  

Race Morning

This race was going to be held in the same location as last week’s race (Fiesta Island) and would follow the exact same course but instead of two bike loops there would be five, and instead of one running loop there would be two. Sounded easy enough!

 

I arrived at Fiesta Island around 6:30, unloaded my car, and headed over to the transition area to meet my friend Robin who would also be racing. It was a little harder than last week to get the bike out (without the help of David) but I managed. I didn’t have much time to set-up my transition area and put on my wetsuit before it was time to get into the water. I went in for a few strokes out and back to get wet and acquaint myself with the yuck of the water. The sun was starting to come up and there was a nice frothy brown foam coming in with the water and onto the beach. GROSS.

 
 

The Swim

Prior to starting the race one of Robin’s experienced tri friends joked that the swim was so short that it wasn’t even worth getting wet, and it just meant we’d be cold and wet during the bike and run. So short? The buoys looked like they were miles away to me! Last week’s course was a rectangle with the short leg out, the long leg across, and a short leg back to shore. This course was the long leg of a rectangle out, the short across, and the long leg back.

 

 

There were about 60 of us racing and we all started at the same time and charged into the water. My “charging” was a bit more apprehensive of course, but I tried to start in the middle of the pack so I wouldn’t feel too left behind during the swim.

 

 

There were many things that crossed my mind during the swim, and I’d categorize my emotions as fear, terror, helplessness, and despair.

  

Some things that crossed my mind during the swim:

 

• Wow that first buoy looks far away!
• Okay, just keep swimming and before you know it you’ll be at the first buoy.
•  Wait, are you kidding me? Its still so far away!
•  I wonder if I should backstroke for a bit?
•  Okay, I feel like an idiot backstroking, I’ll go back to freestyle.
•  I can’t believe I’m only half-way to the first buoy! I’m not going to make it!
•  Where are the lifeguards? Should I flag one over? How embarrassing would it be?
•  If I flagged a lifeguard over on a paddleboard, how would we get back? Would I sit like Pocahantas while he rowed?
•  Okay, keep swimming. You can do this!
•  Yay! The first buoy! Crap .. I’m not even halfway done.
•  Okay, second buoy! Hurrah! I did it!
•  Wait … why does the shore look so far away?? ARGH!
•  Keep swimming. Calm down. The shore will get closer.
•  Am I the slowest one here? Oh good, there are people behind me.
•  Shoot, two people just passed me.
•  I know, I will just count each stroke until I get to the shore. I bet I can get there before 100.
•  1 … 2 … 3 …
•  65! I did it! LAND! Get me out of this nasty water!

 

I was SO happy to be out of the water and was soon unzipping my wetsuit and running up to the transition area. I was happy to see that I wasn’t the last one out of the water. Whew!

 

 

The Bike 

I ran over to the transition area and rinsed off my feet with my water bottle before putting my socks on. Again, I put wet and still moderately muddy feet into my socks before slipping on my shoes. I put Yankz laces on my shoes a few weeks ago and I have to say – I love them! Slip-on running shoes? Genius!

 

 

 

I started out on the bike at the same effort that I had biked the previous weekend in my first race. I felt like I was pushing myself enough, but not enough to make my legs burn. I wasn’t surprised as a few people passed me … until I began to notice that everyone was passing me and I was passing no one. The bike leg of the race consisted of five loops and the trend of being passed and never passing continued. I started to worry that anyone who I might have beat out of the swim was now beating me on the bike.

 

 

Oh no! Could I possibly end up coming in last in the race? How embarrassing! As I finished up the last portion of the bike and came into the transition area to go run, I noticed a large gathering of people already enjoying the post-race breakfast buffet. Boo. :o(

 

The Run

I was a bit discouraged when I started out on the run. I know that I’m not a star triathlete or anything (yet! Haha jk) and I’m a weak swimmer and biker, but my win the prior weekend had boosted my confidence a little in my ‘natural’ athletic ability. I went into this race thinking I’d do okay! After thinking that I had come in last on the bike, I was really worried that I’d come in last in the race overall.

 

 

 

I know that I’m an above average runner and hoped that I could gain some time in the run. I started out on the first of two running loops by myself, and after a few minutes I finally saw someone in front of me. I slowly closed the gap and then passed them. Yeah! Okay, so at least one person would finish after me. Is that a bad thing to be happy about? :o( Over the next few miles I slowly passed a handful of others, and even passed two people in the last quarter mile of the run. That really felt good!

 

 

I was watching my pace during the run and was happy to see that I was sticking to a steady 8:00 pace over the four-mile course. I had the same strange sensation as before after doing a bike/run “brick” workout. I’m not sure about the nickname of the bike/run combo though. My legs didn’t feel like bricks, they felt more like rubber and they didn’t feel as tired when I pushed harder. Maybe I should bike before all of my runs!

 

 

The Finish

Oh the joy of rounding the last corner of a racecourse and seeing the finish line! I was so relieved to be finishing the race and was happy to know that I wasn’t going to be coming in dead last. Since most people were already done racing, there were plenty of people to cheer me on as I crossed the finish line.

 

 

After finishing, I went over to my friend Robin who was hanging out by the post-race breakfast spread which consisted of hot breakfast items like eggs, hash browns, veggie sausage, and bacon, along with yogurt, berries, granola, and muffins. Yummy!

 

 

The Results 

Everyone in the race was wearing a timing chip to give accurate split times. The timing chip costs $30 and can be used at all of the FREE Tri Club races. What a great deal! It makes me never want to pay for a running race again! They were tracking the results throughout the race and announced the top three winners in the female and male categories. My friend Robin came in third! What a stud!! The top three male and female winners were also going to get medals which the tri club would mail out later. Guess what the first place winners got? A turkey! It was really funny to see them take an awards picture holding up frozen turkeys.

 

 

A few days after the race the official results were finally posted and I could see how well (or should I say not well) I placed compared to the rest of the group.

 

 

 

• Swim 800m: 17:58 (10th of 15 women)
• T1: 2:01
• Bike 12.5 miles: 48:46 (14th of 15 women)
• T2: 1:17
• Run 4 miles: 30:16 (4th of 15 women) YEAH
• Overall time 1:40:18 (11th of 15 women)

  

I finished as the 11th of 15 women and … 45th of 52 overall! Wow, not so great. Its okay though, this was only my second triathlon and my first time doing this distance. I’m glad that I just got through the race!

 

 

The triathlon season is over for now and won’t start back up until March of next year. That gives me the next several months to focus on my running. My upcoming events are:

 

 

• Nitro Turkey Trot – November 25th
• Gladiator Rock n Run - December 4th
• Carlsbad Half Marathon – January 23rd

  

Its time to get running again!

 

 

 

Fearless Triathlon - I Did It!

Gratefulness

First off, I want to say this blog isn’t to brag, its to share my appreciation for all of the good things that have happened to me recently. In life I’ve had successes and failures, and when it comes to racing, I feel like the scales have been tipped to the negative for me lately.

  
 

In the past two weeks, I’ve had three incredible things happen to me.

1. I was named a running ambassador for the San Francisco Marathon
2. I won a $200 gift certificate to XTERRA wetsuits in a raffle that bought me a sleeveless wetsuit, a wetsuit bag, and a triathlon transition bag.
3. I did much better than expected I my first triathlon, and I feel good about my athletic ability for the first time in ages

As most of you know, I’ve been running marathons for 5 years, and have improved my progress moderately over the years. My long-term goal was to qualify and run in Boston, but prior to that, I wanted to break 4 hours. Well, 12 marathons and 5 years later I’ve yet to do that. I’ve come really close (4 hours and 32 seconds – argh!), but still haven’t officially done it. To many people those 32 seconds don’t count and I have done it. But to me, I haven’t. I had a really bad race for my last full marathon which really just broke my spirit. I felt terrible for days after that race, sad for weeks, and now months after I feel a dull pain that I’ve chosen to ignore. Because of that last terrible performance (attempt #12), I’m scared to try for another full marathon. To fail for a 13th time might hurt me more than the 12th, and I can’t even imagine that. (For more details on my 12th race, check out "Dealing with Disappointment")

 

Enter triathlons. I’ve been asked in the past if I thought I’d do a triathlon ‘next’. I’ve always thought the person was crazy for asking and said no. I have a million reasons why triathlons aren’t for me. But, due to circumstance, timing, and relationships, in the past few months I started considering them. When I went to visit my mom in Paris in July I couldn’t run during that week, so I swam laps for the first time in 10-15 years. I was amazed to find out that I felt strong in the water, so when I came home I kept swimming. As soon as I realized I had the potential to be a strong swimmer, the idea of a triathlon suddenly came into my periphery. At this same time, a friend of mine started training for his first triathlon, making the concept of this race more real.

 

Inspiration 

My friend Todd started training for his first triathlon (an Olympic distance) not too far after running the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in San Diego. Since we’re friends on dailymile.com, I’d see each of his swim, bike, and run workouts posted as he did them. From seeing his posts and his accomplishments, thoughts, challenges, and improvements, I started to think wow, is this something I could do? I was still doubtful of my ability but really enjoyed watching his progress. He trained for several months diligently, raced in October, and beat his goal. Totally amazing! (For more on this topic check out "Watching a Tri")

Todd at the San Diego Classic Triathlon

 

Motivation

When I was at the San Diego Classic Triathlon watching Todd, I wandered over to the expo booths during some of the wait time while Todd was running. I came across a booth for the Fearless Races and recognized them as a beginner triathlon that my friend Robin had told me about. From the little research I had done, this looked like one of the shortest triathlons out there, and it was totally beginner friendly. The race had 3 free clinics included in registration to help acquaint newbies to the sport of triathlon.

 

I stopped at the booth and talked to a guy there (turned out to be the founder of the races) and he handed me a coupon for $10 off registration. Score! But wait, it expired the next night. When I came home that night I decided to suck it up and register. I did it! OH no… A few days after registering I met up with Robin for lunch and she gave me a pep talk and advice and encouragement for the race. Her experience and calmness about the port gave me a little bit more confidence.

 
 

Preparation

I lucked out and was able to borrow a wetsuit and borrow a road bike from fellow GOTR friends. Whew! Those were the bare minimums that I’d need. To try to get over my biggest fear of the water, I planned on meeting a couple friends for an open water swim in La Jolla Cove. That didn’t go great. For more details on that check out "Giving it a Tri".

My First Open Water Swim

I think that one of the best thing about the Fearless Triathlon is that it included three free clinics. I missed the second clinic because I was running the Long Beach Half Marathon (more on my blog here), but made the first and third clinic which were totally helpful.

 

In the first clinic we did swim drills in the water for an hour, went over the first transition (from swim to bike), and then biked about a mile. In the third clinic we also spent about an hour doing swim drill in the water, did a practice swim and then transition to run, and then everyone but me went back into the water for a second swim. (For the race you could either do one loop (mini sprint) of swim/bike/urn or two loops swim//bike/runs/swim/bike/run. Since I was only doing the mini sprint I had no motivation to go back into the water a second time – without a wetsuit!

Fearless Tri - Clinic #1

Photos courtesy of Fearless Races

 

Raceday 

Raceday finally arrived and it was time to put my training to the test! David and I arrived at the race start at 6:40am. I was super stressed because the transition area was supposed to close at 6:45am. We had to park sooo far way, and by the time I got to the bike racks it seemed that there was literally only one spot left for a bike - which I took. As I racked my bike and fumbled around in the dark with my transition bag, I sadly remembered that in the clinic they recommended bringing a flashlight. Shoot. I set up my transition area and started to put on my wetsuit.

Body Marked and Ready!

Waiting to Start the Swim

 

The Swim

The first wave of racers started at 7:00am, but my wave (the mini-sprinters) didn’t start until 7:30am. I was nervous before the first wave started, felt calmed a bit by watching them start and then the subsequent wave start … but then I was just restless waiting for my own wave to start. Prior to the min-sprinters starting there was a nice pop-talk from a emcee. I assume most of us were doing a triathlon for the first time. I was appreciative for the talk and welcomed any and all comforting words!

Todd Braves the Water sans Wetsuit

 Midget Momo and David

Finally, after about a 10-minute wait, we were off! A friend of a friend from the Tri Club had asked earlier if I wanted a swim buddy. YES! I’ll take any help I can get! My own dedicated help? Heck yeah! When the start was announced my swim buddy and I ran into the water, jumped in, and started swimming. I was nervous and anxious and swam the best I could out to the first buoy, around it, and to the second. At some point near the second buoy though I started to freak out. I already knew the water was cloudy and murky, I wasn’t totally fazed by the kicking feet and flailing arms around me, but suddenly I was uncomfortable and just wanted out of the water. (Inner voice – ACK! We aren’t done yet??) As I rounded the 2nd buoy all I could think about was NOOOO!! Why aren’t we done yet>!? The saltiness and cloudiness of the water, the feeling of people all around me, the weird sensation of dipping my face in a muddy pool while trying to not get kicked and propel myself forward was really just freaking me out. I stopped for a second and treaded, and then breaststroked. My swimming buddy Toni yelled out words of encouragement so I kept going in.

Mini-Sprint Orange Cap Wave Goes!

Don’t laugh. We only swam 250 meters which is nothing. But for me, it was just above my comfort level. If I hadn’t been stroking and breathing and kicking for my life to get out of the water, I probably would’ve cried. Seriously. But suddenly, it was over! HALLELUJAH!

Swim Course

The Bike 

I felt like I was in shock running out of the water; I was sooooo happy to be out. I felt funny running, felt gross running in the mud, and oh yeah wait – I hadn’t mentioned that before the first wave started swimming it had started raining. I ran up the hill to the bike transition area while unzipping my wetsuit and pulling it down to my waist. As soon as I got to my bike I rinsed off my feet with some water, put on my socks (over my wet and mildly muddy feet), stuffed on my shoes and put on my helmet , and I was off!

Running up to Transition (In Purple)

By now it was seriously raining. This race was my second time ever on a road bike. The felling of being pitched forward over the handlebars felt a bit more natural than the first time, but I was still scared to be biking in the rain and was afraid of blowing a tire on the numerous little pebbles on the path. The bike route consisted of two loops that I tried to finish as quickly as possible.

Biking By in the Rain

 

Oddly, I was riding alone for most of the bike leg. Where was everyone? In front of me? Behind me? I wasn’t sure how fast to pedal. As fast as I could go until it hurt? As fast as anyone that tried to pass me? In the end I pedaled as fast as I could without my legs burning, and for the most part I felt that I was cruising along at a really strong pace. Until … I’d occasionally hear a strange sound breaking the silence. I was biking for 19 minutes total. About every 3 minutes I’d be biking alone and then I’d hear this weird sound like a plastic/metal sheet being bent back and forth. Wonk .. wonk .. wonk. And then a guy on a bike with disc wheels and a crazy Spy vs Spy helmet would FLY past me. Wow…

The Run 

Throughout the whole bike portion of the race I was afraid of hitting a rock, popping a tire ,and flying over the handlebars. I was SO relieved when I was done with the bike and could go run! I racked my bike and stared off running. But wait – I felt funny! My feet felt weird and my projection felt weird. Luckily I had my Garmin and I could monitor my pace. I was thrown off though by the disconnect in the speed I felt I was running and the pace my watch said I was running. I felt like I was slogging along at first and was alarmed to see that I was running a sub 7:00 mile. I know I can’t hold that pace for 2 miles so I slowed down a bit. I got to about a 8:00 pace but still felt funny. My feet felt numb in parts and my body felt weird. I tried speeding up a bit and that made me “feel” my feet more of that made any sense. It was as if my body was numb at a normal pace, but by pushing harder, I could feel things.

 

I puzzled over these things in the race and pushed and held back and pushed and held back over the two mile course. Based upon the paces I saw as I glanced at my watch now and then, I estimated a 8-8:30 overall pace on the run.

Approaching the Finish

The Win

As I approached the last stretch of the race, I saw a challenged athlete in front of me with a prosthetic leg. I was on pace to pass him, but suddenly thought to myself “is it unclassy to pass a challenged athlete?” I didn’t want to blow past him so I slowly approached him and ran with him for a few strides before we smiled at each other and I joyously exclaimed “we’re almost done!” … and then I passed him and ran for the money to the finish. I finished strong and LOVED that they announced my name as I finished.

 

Finishing Strong!

Triathlon Complete!

After finishing I found David and Christine on the sidelines (soaking wet and cold - so sorry!). Moments later Todd finished the race and we cheered him on to the finish, and quickly high-tailed it out of there.  For a split second it crossed my mind that I had placed in the race since I had seen few people in the bike and run and had passed way more people than had passed me, but I dismissed it as craziness because there was no way this newbie could have done so good.

Well .. by the time I had gotten home I regretted that a bit. My friend Danielle (fellow GOTR coach) sent me a facebook message saying that I had placed in the race. “Wow” I thought! That’s great1 but what did that mean? Did I place in my age division of 30-34? How many others were in that division? What if I was the only one? Did I only place because I had no competition? I was excited to hear that I had won something bat wasn’t able to put it into perspective until a few days later.

A few days after the race the results were posted online and I was astonished to see that I finished first in the overall women’s division, AND I finished as the first woman in the swim and run. How was that possible in the swim?? I saw so many people in front of me! I guess they were all guys?


Official Results

Overall Time: 43:21:08
Swim: 7:05  (1st place female, 2nd overall)
T1: 2:18
Bike: 19:32  (6th place female)
T2: 1:35
Run: 12:50   (1st place female, 3rd overall)

 

When I looked over the results I also felt guilty because I don’t think the run was an actual 2 mile course. (I haven’t downloaded my watch data yet.) My run time was clocked at 12:50. There is no way I ran 2 miles at a 6:25 pace! Maybe close to 7:00 but not under 7:00. Hmm....  I felt bad for a bit until I realized that well, even if the course was shorter than 2 miles, we all ran the same course, so if I ran that part fastest, then I deserved to come in first!

Winners' Medals - Mine in the middle!

 

I looked at the races website and saw a list of school schwag for winning. Darnit, why didn’t I stick around?! I sent an email on Monday to the race organizer asking if I could still get prize. On Tuesday I sent another email. Crickets. Crickets. On Wednesday morning I was sad not to have heard back yet … and then finally I got a response! I’d still get my award! Yay! They won’t mail it for two weeks and I’m not sure if I’ll get just the trophy, or the trophy plus the other goodies (food and a tri outfit). I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Next Race 
I came into triathlons at the wrong time of year. The season is over! But not just yet. The San Diego Tri club (AWESOME) has a club race this coming Saturday that I’ve signed up for. I’m a bit nervous because its 2-3 times the distance of the race I just did. I feel like I barely made it through that race! Its hard to imagine going so much further. Oh well, we’ll see how it goes. Gotta give it a TRI right ? :o)

 

Thankfulness

I couldn’t have gotten to where I am today if it weren’t for a number of friends. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me by lending me gear, giving me advice, and encouraging me to go for it.

 

Todd – thank you for the original motivation! I’m glad you shared your training progress and thoughts along the journey towards your first tri. Thanks also for going with me for that first swim in the cove, and for signing up for the Fearless Tri to keep me company and make the race seem like it was something I could do.

Carol - thank you for holding my hand as I walked into the water at La Jolla cove. Thank you also for your reassuring words up until the swim!
 

Robin - thank you for all of the advice and encouragement! Because of you I joined the Tri Club, went to a coached swim at the JCC, heard of the Fearless Race, and eventually signed up.
 

Megan – thank you for lending me your wetsuit! Without a wetsuit training for this race and competing wouldn’t even have been possible!

Kathryn – thank you for talking bikes with me and going to a few bike stores to look at my options and to start to kind of understand what road biking is all about.

Tara – thank you for lending me your road bike! Without your bike I would have had to use my dead weight Target mountain bike from college.

Christina – thank you for talking triathlons with me over the past few months. Even though we didn’t sign up for the races we’ve talked about lately, having another newbie friend who was willing to make the transition from marathons to triathlons made me feel more confident about the decision.

Lastly David – my number one fan, captain of my race support crew, fellow marathoner, and my favorite person. Thanks for always believing in me and encouraging me to go for it. You’ve believed in me so many times when I didn’t believe in myself. Thank you for that.

I’ll report back after my next race this weekend. Who knows, if this goes well I might have to change the title of my blog to Engineer, Marketer, Marathon Runner, TRIATHLETE, & Cheese Hater.